Thursday, November 30, 2006

A penny for your thoughts..

I have a few ill-formed random thoughts bouncing around in my head, and some are bouncing out:

1) R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me

The Jim Webb incident has generated a lot of talk and I'm wondering what it all means. The right-wing echo chamber is all over Webb's supposed "rudeness" and "boorishness" (they seem to have forgotten how one Sen. Jesse Helms effectively threatened Bill Clinton's life) and his lack of "respect."

If you have read these pages, you know that "respect" for George Walker Bush is a scarce commodity around here, and our contempt is well-justified. This is nothing new of course. Go back and see our 16th president referred to as "the original gorilla" and mercilessly caricatured in the cartoons of the day.

My question though--is there any validity to the old saying, "I don't respect the man, but I respect the office?" Is that possible, and if so, what does it mean?

… I get tired, just a little bit, keep on tryin' (just a little bit), you're runnin' out of foolin' (just a little bit) and I ain't lyin' (just a little bit)

2) Isn't it remarkable that it is the Democrats' responsibility to solve George's mess when they haven't even been sworn in yet?

3) It looks like the much-hyped "Baker Report" will be warmed-over nonsense and people will just keep dying. It will speak in vaguely-defined platitudes and indefinite objectives--and people will keep dying.

4) Speaking of death, remind me to take al-Maliki in next year's dead pool (if he's still eligible, this is a tough month for him).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The phrase "I don't respect the man, but I respect the office?" is meaningless.

I was recently tied up in a bureaucratic nightmare and was told by a bureau-cog that I must "respect the process". No. The process and the office must respect the people. That's where it ends.

I respect the President when he earns my respect. I respect any person who's goal is to serve the people. I have no respect for Bush and his office is merely an empty room.